James Kuczykowski was born to John Joseph and Dorothy Kuczykowski in May of 1961. In early childhood, he was severely cross-eyed and stuttered profusely, so his early childhood was met with the older children in his neighborhood laughing at him and calling him names.
He was raised in a Roman Catholic environment and attended Catholic schools all his life. While in high school at Steubenville Catholic Central (1976-1979), James says of himself he was a multipositional athlete on the football team. He jokes that he played end, guard, and tackle. He says, "I sat on the end of the bench, was given charge to guard the water bottles and tackle anyone who came near the water tray."
In November of 1980, the day after Thanksgiving, he started his short career in the US Air Force.
After Basic Training and Technical Training School, his duty assignments included Hancock Field in North Syracuse, New York; Mangil-san Radar Station at Mangil-san, South Korea; and Tyndall Air Force Base at Panama City, Florida. He was awarded an honorable discharge in September of 1984.
It was at Hancock Field where he met Tela Baxter, an Air Force woman who he thought was the most beautiful woman he ever saw. James and Tela became good friends and was married in June of 1982.
Due to circumstances beyond their control though, James and Tela lived separate lives but did stay legally married for thirty-eight years until June 25th 2022.
While serving in the US Air Force, James fell in love with the alcohol drinking crowd and strayed far from his Christian upbringing. His alcohol drinking continually escalated until the day when he called an old friend, "The Coalminer," and asked this old friend to help him get sober.
And so on December 3, 1996, James K. entered his first Anonymous twelve-step fellowship and continues to attend the meetings because he treasures the friendship and laughter.
After receiving an honorable discharge from the US Air Force, James returned to his hometown and attended Jefferson Technical College and earned an associate degree in applied business, data processing, in June 1987.
The economy was not very good at this time in the United States, so James struggled with part-time jobs for a couple of years before being hired as a telemarketing salesman for Snyder Distributing. That position led to employment with another Snyder firm, Bulldog Distributing, which led to an international sales position with Bulldog Security.
James, aka "Jim Kuz," worked with the Snyder family for twelve years before starting a landscaping and lawn-cutting concern. As is mentioned in this book, James is a stroke survivor and lives a reasonably joyful life.
